Australia — Queensland Tours

            Queensland is the northeastern state in Australia.  The geographic isolation of the Australian continent has fostered the evolution of a spectacular variety of endemic flora and fauna.  This tour will find us observing the multitude of birds that reside amidst the scenic grandeur of Queensland: fairy-wrens, birds-of-paradise, bowerbirds, honeyeaters, and many brightly-colored parrots.

            This tour begins in Brisbane, which is about a 13-hour flight from the west coast of the U.S.  For details on how to easily get to Brisbane, click here.  We spend our first three days exploring the magnificent tropical rainforests of Lamington National Park.  After that, we proceed to Far North Queensland (FNQ), and visit the plateaus (tablelands), mountains, meadows, forests, and lakes located northwest of Cairns.  Later in the tour, we travel to the remote Outback area that is 250 miles west of Cairns.  Here we’ll search sandy deserts and dry savannah grasslands to find a different assortment of birds.  This is our only real “roadtrip” of the tour.  Otherwise, this tour spends a minimum amount of time in driving, which allows us a maximum amount of time in the field.

            Our tour accommodations are located in areas of exceptional natural beauty, including Kingfisher Park Lodge, Cassowary House, and the exquisite O’Reilly’s Retreat.  Websites for all of our accommodations can be found on our Links page.  At O’Reilly’s, we’ll have the surreal experience of watching wild flocks of Crimson Rosellas and Australian King-Parrots fly in to feed from our hands.  These tame birds will put on quite a “parrot show” for us, while stunning Regent and Satin Bowerbirds will also compete for our attention.

While birding, we’ll make a concerted effort to see some of Australia’s extraordinary animals: Koala, Platypus, Spectacled Flying-fox, Eastern Gray Kangaroo, Sugar Glider, Red-necked Pademelon, Mountain Brushtail Possum, Musky Rat-kangaroo, Northern Brown Bandicoot, and several others.

Two boat trips are featured on this tour.  First, we take an all-day pelagic trip to the Great Barrier Reef, one of the premiere coral reefs in the world.  Here we’ll experience the sight and sound of thousands of nesting seabirds at their colonies, located on pristine beaches.  Snorkeling opportunities are available on the reef, for those wishing to participate.  Our other boat trip will be the Daintree River cruise, where we’ll search for Great-billed Heron, Little Kingfisher, and other species.

            Photographic opportunities are numerous, particularly at the various fruiting trees, abundant wildflowers, and feeder locations, where many of the birds will be within a few feet of us.

            Our leader, John Shipley, will be joined by one of two local Australian guides (Roy Sonnenburg or Barry Davies) which will serve to further enhance the overall experience for our 8 tour participants.

            The fees for this tour include round-trip air transport between Brisbane and Cairns on Qantas Airways, as described in the detailed itinerary.

            We expect to see about 250 species of birds.  Come join us for some remarkable birding and experience the splendor of Queensland, “Down Under”.

Day 1 (Sunday):  Plan to arrive in Brisbane before 9:00 a.m.  Destinations—Daisy Hill, Duck Creek, Kerry Valley, and other Brisbane hotspots along the short drive to Lamington National Park.  Expected Species—Variegated Fairy-wren, Rose Robin, Mangrove Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Green Figbird, Rainbow Lorikeet, Comb-crested Jacana, Golden Whistler, Laughing Kookaburra, Square-tailed Kite, Wonga Pigeon, Tawny Frogmouth, Collared Kingfisher, Crimson Rosella, Australian King-Parrot, and Regent Bowerbird.  Night in Lamington National Park at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat.

Day 2 (Monday):  Destinations—Rainforests and Eucalypt forests in Lamington National Park.  Expected Species—Satin Bowerbird, Bassian Thrush, Buff-rumped Thornbill, White-headed Pigeon, Logrunner, Australian Brush-turkey, Pacific Baza, Eastern Whipbird, Albert’s Lyrebird, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Striated Pardalote, Green Catbird, Olive Whistler, and Paradise Riflebird.  Night in Lamington National Park at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat.

Day 3 (Tuesday):  Destinations—Lamington National Park and return drive to Brisbane.  Afternoon flight on Qantas Airways from Brisbane to Cairns.  Expected Species—Bell Miner, Yellow-throated Scrubwren, Russet-tailed Thrush, Eastern Yellow Robin, Red-browed Treecreeper, Rufous Scrub-bird, Pale-headed Rosella, Plumed Frogmouth, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Scarlet Honeyeater, and Mangrove Gerygone.  Night in Cairns at Cool Waters Cabins.

Day 4 (Wednesday):  Destinations—Pelagic trip to Michaelmas Cay on the Great Barrier Reef.  Expected Species—Brown Noddy, Great Frigatebird, Lesser Frigatebird, Brown Booby, Sooty Tern, Bridled Tern, Black-naped Tern, and Great Crested Tern.  Night in Cairns at Cool Waters Cabins.

Day 5 (Thursday):  Destinations—Several locations in Cairns, including Esplanade and Centenary Lakes.  Expected Species—Terek Sandpiper, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Eastern Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Red-capped Plover, Great Knot, Australian Pelican,  Buff-banded Rail, Beach Stone-curlew, Papuan Frogmouth, Black Butcherbird, Metallic Starling, Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, Barred Cuckoo-shrike, Yellow Honeyeater, Brown-backed Honeyeater, Crimson Finch, Southern Cassowary, Victoria’s Riflebird, Chowchilla, Superb Fairy-wren, Macleay’s Honeyeater, Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Emerald Dove, Pied Monarch, Spectacled Monarch, Spotted Catbird, Red-necked Crake, Australian Masked Owl, Southern Boobook, Australian Owlet-nightjar, and Rufous Whistler.  Night in Kuranda at Cassowary House.

Days 6-7 (Friday-Saturday):  Destinations—Savannah woodlands, dry scrub, lakes, and lagoons near Georgetown.  Expected Species—Emu, Brolga, Australian Bustard, Spinifex Pigeon, Black-breasted Buzzard, Pink-eared Duck, Budgerigar, Varied Lorikeet, Gray-fronted Honeyeater, Red-browed Pardalote, Black-faced Woodswallow, Pictorella Mannikin, Plum-headed Finch, Masked Finch, Black-throated Finch, and Zebra Finch.  Nights in Georgetown at Latara Resort Motel.

Days 8-11 (Sunday-Wednesday):  Destinations—Atherton Tablelands, Mount Carbine, Mareeba Wetlands, Lake Mitchell, Mount Molloy, Mount Lewis, and Daintree River cruise.  Expected Species—Sarus Crane, Black-necked Stork, Green Pygmy-goose, Cotton Pygmy-goose, Apostlebird, Golden Bowerbird, Great Bowerbird, Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher, Pale-headed Rosella, Little Lorikeet, Dollarbird, Superb Fruit-Dove, Topknot Pigeon, Brown Gerygone, Noisy Pitta, Red-browed Firetail, Tooth-billed Bowerbird, Fernwren, Gray-headed Robin, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater, Graceful Honeyeater, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Lewin’s Honeyeater, Mountain Thornbill, Large-billed Gerygone, Cicadabird, Shining Flycatcher, White-browed Robin, Eastern Yellow Robin, Pied Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Fairy Martin, Bassian Thrush, Atherton Scrubwren, Red-backed Fairy-wren, Lovely Fairy-wren, Eastern Spinebill, Satin Flycatcher, Pheasant Coucal, Silvereye, Olive-backed Oriole, Rainbow Bee-eater, and Blue-faced Parrot-Finch.  Nights in Julatten at Kingfisher Park Lodge.

Day 12 (Thursday):  Destinations—Rainforests, lakes, and swamps near Cairns.  Afternoon flight on Qantas Airways from Cairns to Brisbane, where we will have our farewell dinner at a fine restaurant.  Expected Species—Galah, White-faced Heron, Whistling Kite, Australian Hobby, Azure Kingfisher, Hardhead, and Double-barred Finch.  Night in Brisbane at Birding Services B & B.

Day 13 (Friday): The tour concludes at 9:00 a.m. in Brisbane.